‘POINTS make prizes, not games in hand.’ A footballing corruption of one of the more famous TV catchphrases, and one which Town boss Danny Wilson has on the tip of his tongue.

Wilson takes his Robins to Colchester United this afternoon with his team sitting uncomfortably in 21st place in League One, level on points with 20th-placed Tranmere, but having played four games more.

That is a common trend around the bottom of the division, with Notts County holding five games in hand over Town, Dagenham & Redbridge four, Yeovil two and Walsall and Bristol Rovers one apiece.

But the Swindon manager has always maintained what’s earned is much more substantial than what can be earned, as experienced first-hand last term.

And he believes his side’s displays of late merited more than a meagre return of three points from a possible 24.

“We’ve had games in hand last season and that means nothing unless you get the points so I’m not even concerned about that,” he said.

“I’m more enthused about our performances of the last few games, but we’ve got beat.

“The performances have been decent recently. I think it was quite decent the other night and the 3-0 scoreline was completely flattering.

“I think our performances of late have deserved the results and if we continue like that we’ll be ok.”

The 51-year-old has spent the week trying to keep the dark cloud generated by dissenters and gloom-mongerers away from the Swindon training ground, as he attempts to spark his players into a positive result at the Weston Homes Community Stadium tomorrow.

Wilson said, after dealing with the immediate after-effects of defeat at Leyton Orient on Tuesday, his squad has retained its collective self-belief in time for the trip to Essex.

And he is planning to leave the fretting and panicking to others as he and his team go in search of three invaluable points.

“You can’t look at the division and worry about it. We have to get our own house in order,” he said.

“We can’t concentrate too much on the fear factor because everyone’s doing that for us.

“We’ve got to make sure we’re as relaxed as we can be and play our football, and if we’re in that mode we’ll get results.

“We’ve got to get through it, and if we start feeling sorry for ourselves there’s only one way we’re going to go.

“We’ve got a very positive attitude, although a lot of people don’t have that around us at the moment.”

Wilson may be no Bruce Forsyth but he’ll certainly have to play his cards right to steer Swindon clear of safety in League One.

Lecsinel Jean-Francois will miss the weekend clash after he was granted compassionate leave for the birth of his first child, whilst Vincent Pericard is still struggling to recover from knee problems.

David Prutton has hamstring trouble which could force him out of the reckoning for a starting berth, whilst Elliot Benyon travelled with the squad yesterday after making progress in his fight against hamstring difficulty.

David Lucas is in contention for a spot in the starting 11, whilst Alan O’Brien may not be included.